The Tower of London

Hello, this is Michael Anthony and you’re listening to British History 101. After an extremely long break, here I am again, and British History 101 is back on track. As many of you will recall, we left off with Henry VIII. I had originally planned to make Henry a 3 part series, but due to my dissatisfaction with my own work on the first episode and a general lack of an idea of how exactly to break that topic up, I’ve decided to move on to something entirely different. I assure you we will treat Henry in future episodes, but I admit my own planning wasn’t near enough to pull it off this time. With that said, let’s begin our episode on one of my favourite pieces of British heritage – the Tower of London.
Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London was built in 1070 and 1080 by William the Conqueror (who we discussed in the first three episodes of this podcast). It was a symbol of his power and might over the peoples he had subjugated in the decade prior. The image most commonly associated with the Tower of London is the White Tower, only one of 21 buildings within the existing complex today and the edifice originally built by William. The next century saw an enclosure of the White Tower with a curtain wall by King Richard the Lionheart, with the addition of a moat around the outside. Yet another defensive fixture was put in place by Edward I in the late 13th century, thus forming a double ring of defence around the Tower. This mighty fortification stood as a royal residence until the revolution lead by Oliver Cromwell, who had the old palaces on the site demolished.
At one point, the Tower featured quite a zoo, known as the Royal Menagerie. The zoo within the tower is often said to have been started in 1235, although some records indicate animals may have been kept there as much as 30 years before that. The so-called “official” beginning was due to the gift of three leopards given to Henry III by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II when Frederick married the king’s sister. The Royal Menagerie remained there for several centuries, and was opened to the public by the early 19th century. However, the London Zoo was built within a few decades, and all of the Royal Menagerie’s animals were removed from the Tower by 1835.
Since we’re on the subject of animals, I’d like to mention the ravens found within the Tower. History, whether provable or simply legend, says that at least six ravens have held residence within the Tower complex for centuries, and one tale claims that the entire United Kingdom shall fall should the ravens ever leave the Tower. This, of course, has been proven wrong, as the birds were all killed in the bombing of London by the Luftwaffe during World War II, and we all know how that war turned out. Eight ravens can now be found within the Tower’s walls, tended to by the Ravenmaster, a post given to one of the Yeoman Warders who guard the Tower. There are 5 male ravens named Gwylum, Thor, Bran, Gundulf (so named for the Tower’s architect, Bishop Gundulf of Rochester), and Baldrick, and 3 females called Hugine, Munin, and Branwen. On a personal note, I visited the Tower during my time in Britain in 2003, and on my tour a Yeoman Warder informed me that the ravens’ wings have been clipped – so no matter what, they can’t leave, and the kingdom shall never fall.
Aside from being home to lions, tigers, and ravens, the Tower has also been home to many people who’d rather not be there – prisoners. The Tower’s first mentionable prisoner was Bishop Flambard of Durham, sent there in 1100 for the crime of distortion. It is said that the good bishop later escaped from his imprisonment. Among the Tower’s depressingly impressive list of prisoners through history are several kings of Scotland, the future Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes, and several wives of Henry VIII. The only American prisoner ever held within the tower was Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress in 1780. In more recent history, the Tower was host to its last execution during World War II of German spy Josef Jakobs. Rudolf Hess of Nazi infamy also found his way into the Tower.
Since 1303, the royal Crown Jewels have been kept at the Tower of London. They are stored now in the Tower’s Jewel House, under the protection of a unit of the Queen’s Guard. They were taken from the Tower during World War II (for obvious reasons). It is rumoured that during that time they were kept in either the Sun Life Insurance Company building in Montreal, Canada, the Round Tower of Windsor Castle, or Fort Knox in the state of Kentucky in the United States.
A fascinating event that has taken place nightly since the 1300’s is the Ceremony of the Keys, the process of securing the Tower of London. Shortly before 10 PM, the Chief Warder, dressed in Tudor fashion, meets the Escort of the Key and secures the main gates of the Tower with the Escort. They then proceed to the Bloody Tower archway, where the sentry challenges them and the escort answers with the following dialogue:
Sentry: Who comes there?
Chief Warder: The keys.
S: Whose keys?
CW: Queen Elizabeth’s keys.
S: Pass Queen Elizabeth's Keys. All's well.
The party then makes its way into the fortress, the guard presents arms, and the chief warder says the following with his hat raised, “God preserve Queen Elizabeth.” To which the sentry responds, “Amen.” It should be noted that it takes quite a bit to stop or interrupt the process – it carried on even during a bombing raid on London during World War II. Even though the guardroom was hit by incendiary bombs, the blown-over Escort and Chief Warder dusted themselves off and continued with the ceremony. The Officer of the Guard sent a letter to the reigning king, George VI, apologising for the Ceremony’s lateness. The King responded that no punishment was in order, as the Ceremony was interrupted by enemy action.
The Tower of London is both a centuries-old defensive bastion as well as a world-renowned symbol of British glory and power. It is an amazing sight to behold, and certainly a must-see for anyone travelling to the London area.
I’d like to say a few things before we wrap up for this episode. First of all – I’d really like to thank everyone who offered their input and feedback when I asked for it. It was wonderful to see such an outpouring of support, and I’ve really taken it to heart. As you can probably tell, I’ve decided to move forward with the usage of a script, as that was what 99 percent of those writing in requested. I must admit, I am a bit relieved – I was hoping the script would be the viable option to the podcasts’s listeners. Second of all – one listener wrote in and asked if British History 101 would always be free to listen to. That is something that I feel very strongly about and can personally guarantee – British History 101 will always be free, and nobody will ever be charged for the information contained within. It would be a travesty to charge a price for the knowledge I attempt to spread through this podcast, and I would never want to disadvantage someone wishing to learn about the land and the culture that I find myself so very fond of.
That’s if for this episode of British History 101. . If you’d like to check out a transcript of this and past episodes of my podcast, you can head over to http://www.britishhistory101.com for current and archived content. Send suggestions, questions, comments, rants, and raves to BritishHistory101@gmail.com. I can also be reached via Skype, under the name BritishHistory101 – for those of you who have tried to contact me that way in the past, I apologize for my unavailability – I am trying very earnestly now to be more active on that channel! Our music tonight is “Megan’s Daughter,” performed by Cheryl Ann Fulton and available on Magnatune.com. Magnatune is an independent online record label that equally shares all revenue from album sales with their hand-selected artists while allowing them to retain full rights to their works. Visit magnatune.com for great music at low prices and support the many wonderful artists hosted there. I very much appreciate everyone taking time out of their week to learn with me, and my best to you all. Thanks again, and we’ll meet again soon.

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